Exploring the limits: A low-pressure, low-temperature Haber-Bosch process

被引:415
作者
Vojvodic, Aleksandra [1 ]
Medford, Andrew James [2 ]
Studt, Felix [1 ]
Abild-Pedersen, Frank [1 ]
Khan, Tuhin Suvra [1 ]
Bligaard, T. [1 ]
Norskov, J. K. [1 ,2 ]
机构
[1] SLAC Natl Accelerator Lab, SUNCAT Ctr Interface Sci & Catalysis, Menlo Pk, CA 94025 USA
[2] Stanford Univ, Dept Chem Engn, SUNCAT Ctr Interface Sci & Catalysis, Stanford, CA USA
关键词
AMMONIA-SYNTHESIS; HETEROGENEOUS CATALYSIS; TRANSITION-METAL; SINGLE-CRYSTAL; POTASSIUM; IRON; ACTIVATION; NITROGEN; SURFACES;
D O I
10.1016/j.cplett.2014.03.003
中图分类号
O64 [物理化学(理论化学)、化学物理学];
学科分类号
070304 ; 081704 ;
摘要
The Haber-Bosch process for ammonia synthesis has been suggested to be the most important invention of the 20th century, and called the 'Bellwether reaction in heterogeneous catalysis'. We examine the catalyst requirements for a new low-pressure, low-temperature synthesis process. We show that the absence of such a process for conventional transition metal catalysts can be understood as a consequence of a scaling relation between the activation energy for N-2 dissociation and N adsorption energy found at the surface of these materials. A better catalyst cannot obey this scaling relation. We define the ideal scaling relation characterizing the most active catalyst possible, and show that it is theoretically possible to have a low pressure, low-temperature Haber-Bosch process. The challenge is to find new classes of catalyst materials with properties approaching the ideal, and we discuss the possibility that transition metal compounds have such properties. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
引用
收藏
页码:108 / 112
页数:5
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